Bears feeling sense of urgency with HOF game

Bears feeling sense of urgency as Hall of Fame Game approaches

Updated: July 6, 2011 2:12AM

If the Bears are feeling a greater sense of urgency about NFL owners and players coming up with a collective-bargaining agreement, it’s because they should.
Coach Lovie Smith’s team is scheduled to open training camp early and participate in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 7, meaning the timing of the agreement will affect them before other teams.
It appears NFL owners and players are finding middle ground, which could result in a CBA in the next three weeks. The question then becomes how much time it will take for the deal to be ratified by players and owners. Teams must be allowed to sign rookies and free agents. It will take at least a week to 10 days to accomplish this, according to NFL sources, meaning an agreement needs to be reached by mid-July to ensure that the Bears can start training camp at Olivet Nazarene University on time.
“Olivet goes on either way,” university spokesman Gary Griffin said. “We want the Bears on campus, but we still have our main job to do, whether they come or not.”
There are undoubtedly several veterans who wouldn’t mind missing a few weeks of training camp and seeing exhibition games wiped out, especially with the Bears scheduled to play five practice games, starting with the Hall of Fame Game against the St. Louis Rams the day after Richard Dent’s enshrinement.
Hall of Fame spokesman Joe Horrigan wants it known that the enshrinement festival will take place regardless of whether the game is played. Ticket sales for the game and the enshrinement ceremony have been sluggish, which was expected given the uncertainty surrounding the lockout.
“The only thing we can control is that we are prepared regardless of what the magical date might be,” Horrigan said when asked if the lockout had to end by a specific date for the Hall of Fame Game to be played. “We’d prefer not to speculate. The fact is, I’m sure there is a date in which it becomes impractical for the league and teams participating.”
Olivet Nazarene officials don’t seem to be sweating about the possibility of the Bears cancelling training camp, which becomes more of a possibility the longer the lockout drags on. Griffin said the university’s staff can be ready to host the Bears on 24 hours’ notice and will be prepared to accommodate fans for public practices a few days after that.
“We exist to serve and educate our students, and that job continues year-round no matter what happens in the NFL,” Griffin said. “If the NFL ends their [lockout] in the next three weeks, we put together a plan for training camp that we’ve had in effect for 10 years. Everybody knows their job, and we get ready like we always do. We’re not living under any more strain or pressure than any other year. We’re flexible. When your business is to provide an education and living atmosphere for 2,600 college students, being flexible with a pro training camp is pretty easy to do.”
If the lockout continues past the first week of August, the Bears might decide to hold an abbreviated training camp at Halas Hall rather than hauling all their equipment to Bourbonnais for what would only be a couple of weeks.
Roughly half of NFL teams conduct training camp at their own training facilities, but such a scenario would be problematic for the Bears. With little sideline space or parking at the team’s Lake Forest headquarters, it would be difficult for fans to watch training-camp practices. Although new grass practice fields were installed this offseason, the wear and tear on the turf from training-camp and regular-season practices also could result in the fields being overused by late in the season.
Postponing training camp isn’t a possibility because the university has to clear the campus to welcome students by Aug. 20, which presents yet another deadline for the Bears.

Harris: If Bears report later than July 22, they shouldn't play in Hall of Fame Game

Ticket sales for game vs. Rams lagging because of lockout situation

By Vaughn McClure, Chicago Tribune reporter 10:10 p.m. CDT, July 5, 2011

While plans remain intact for a Bears-Rams Hall of Fame Game matchup in Canton, Ohio, at least one Bear remains skeptical about the lockout being lifted in time to accommodate the Aug. 7 contest.

Outspoken safety Chris Harris wondered what the purpose of playing the first of five exhibitions would be if the Bears can't report to training camp on July 22, as scheduled.

"No one wants to play four exhibition games, but that's what we do. I'm cool with playing (the Hall of Fame) game if we get training camp started on time," Harris said Tuesday. "But anything past (July 22) then I'm not cool with it.

"Even if we report three days later, then it's still past that date. The Bears organization, Lovie (Smith) and Jerry (Angelo) made the decision to have training camp when we're having it because of that preseason game on Aug. 7. So that's the amount of time it would take for us to get ready for the game. That's how I look at it."

While the Bears had no comment on the status of the game, Pro Football Hall of Fame President Steve Perry told ESPN it was still on track despite a decline in ticket sales. Perry reiterated to the Tribune the possibility of the game being canceled if the labor dispute isn't resolved in time because pushing back the game "would not be practical" based on the Hall of Fame ceremonies.

"I have to be optimistic," Perry said. "That's an important game, and the entire preseason is an important part of getting ready for the regular season. So everybody who's hoping to have a great football season this year wants the whole (season) to happen."

The game is scheduled to be NBC's Sunday night game.

Harris is a bit more skeptical. He views the ongoing labor dispute as maddening, although reports of progress seem to surface hourly. Then again, a handful of folks speculated during the second week of June that a new agreement would be reached within two weeks.

"I don't believe anything I hear," Harris said. "I don't believe any report coming out of the NFL Network or websites or anything as far as the labor agreement.

"These are confidential meetings. Then how is stuff coming out of these meetings if the meetings are confidential? What sources are they citing if they won't say their sources? Where is the information coming from?"

Harris has been working out on his own in preparation for whenever the season begins, training four days a week at Velocity Sports Performance in Charlotte, N.C. Had there not been a lockout, the Bears would have wrapped up organized team activities June 23, giving the players about a month to relax before training camp.

"But now, with the way this thing is going, it's more frustrating than at the start because you can't plan anything," Harris said. "We're used to having a definitive schedule, and we don't have it."

Harris plans to attend his family reunion July 15 in Arkansas, around the same date a new collective bargaining agreement needs to be reached in order for the Bears and Rams to report to training camp on time.

"I plan on making it," Harris said of his reunion, "because I don't think this lockout is going to be over by then."

vxmcclure@tribune.com

Twitter @vxmcclure23

If this continues for more than another 10 days without them reaching an agreement it's hard to see how the preseason and the games will not be affected. I'm in favor of them taking it slow and having a full camp and a decent FA signing period even if it means cancelling half of the preseason games. Getting players to camp, in shape, learning the systems, and finalizing rosters is far more important to the conduct of a normal season than an extra preseason game or two.

Of course the owners won't see it that way since they'll lose whatever money is made from those games. Tough $hit, that's what comes from having continued to fight for this lockout instead of capitulating to Judge Nelson's decision that they should get back to the business of football way back in May. There's no reason why these same negotiations couldn't have gone on as teams collected themselves for the upcoming season. This seeming need to over complicate everything is on the NFL, not the players. As I've already said; it's time for the "hardliners" to stand aside and let the more moderate owners get this deal done.

But then they would be working without a contract, and that opens the door for a slew of problems on both sides of the debate

That's no big deal. They've done it before. Once the basic terms are worked out and the language and definitions agreed upon it's just a matter of having it written up and signed. When they're that far along the line there's little or no chance that it would fall apart. Too much at stake.

Quote:

Roughly half of NFL teams conduct training camp at their own training facilities, but such a scenario would be problematic for the Bears. With little sideline space or parking at the team’s Lake Forest headquarters, it would be difficult for fans to watch training-camp practices. Although new grass practice fields were installed this offseason, the wear and tear on the turf from training-camp and regular-season practices also could result in the fields being overused by late in the season.
Postponing training camp isn’t a possibility because the university has to clear the campus to welcome students by Aug. 20, which presents yet another deadline for the Bears.

That is a very big pressing issue for the Bears